Hide pulling machine

ABSTRACT

A hide pulling machine for hogs consisting of a carriage movable on tracks beneath and parallel to a conveyor line along which hogs are moved, the hogs being suspended in a head-down position and having the hide previously pulled loose from the head, legs and belly, the carriage having mounted thereon a power operated pulling device moving downwardly adjacent the hog, and including a clamping device to which a loose portion of the hide may be affixed, so that the hide is pulled free of the back and sides of the animal in a downward direction. The clamping device is automatically released when the pulling is completed, and the hide is deposited in a discharge chute. The carriage travel on its rails may be synchronized with the conveyor travel, so that no interruption of the conveyor travel is necessary.

United States Patent 11 Thompson et al.

[ Sept. 17, 1974 HIDE PULLING MACHINE [76] Inventors: Phil W. Thompson, 13307 Spring St.; Ralph F. Thompson, 1 1919 Bennington, both of Grandview, Mo. 64030; Harold G. Gottreu, 7109 Williow, Raytown, Mo. 64133 [22] Filed: Mar. 2, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 337,634

[52] US. Cl. 17/21 [51] Int. Cl A22b 5/16 [58] Field of Search 17/17, 50, 21

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,478,386 11/1969 Robison l7/21 3,599,277 8/1971 Brown 17/21 Primary ExaminerRobert Peshock Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John A. Hamilton [57] ABSTRACT A hide pulling machine for hogs consisting of a carriage movable on tracks beneath and parallel to a conveyor line along which hogs are moved, the hogs being suspended in a head-down position and having the hide previously pulled loose from the head. legs and belly, the carriage having mounted thereon a power operated pulling device moving downwardly adjacent the hog, and including a clamping device to which a loose portion of the hide may be affixed, so that the hide is pulled free of the back and sides of the animal in a downward direction. The clamping device is automatically released when the pulling is completed. and the hide is deposited in a discharge chute. The carriage travel on its rails may be synchronized with the conveyor travel, so that no interruption of the conveyor travel is necessary.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEPI mu sum 1 OF 4 SHEEIB [1F 4 S rll, rill PATENIED SEP 1 7 I974 PATENIEDSEPI 3', 835.502

SHEU '4 OF 4 HIDE PULLING MACHINE This invention relates to new and useful improvements in hide pulling machines, and has particular reference to a machine for completing the removal of hides from hogs. It is entirely practical to skin a hog partially in a manual operation, slitting the hide along the inner sides of the legs and pulling the skin free and also slitting the skin of the belly from tail to snout and pulling the skin away from the head and belly, so that it remains attached only along the back and sides of the animal, and possibly along the top of the head and snout. However, these remaining areas of attachment are more difficult to skin, requiring so much force as to be beyond the power of an average man, so that various types of power apparatus have been devised to complete this portion of the hide pulling operation.

A primary object of the present invention is the provision of a hide pulling machine operable to pull the hide downwardly from a suspended hog, so that the pulling force is resisted by the suspension means, and no other connection to the hog is required. Other machines within our knowledge pull the hide upwardly from the carcasses, so that some hold-down connection to the lower end of the carcasses, usually the jaw bone, is required to resist the hide-pulling force.

Another object is the provision of a hide pulling machine of the character described which is operable to pull hides from a hog as said hog moves at a regular speed along a conveyor line, requiring no stoppage or interruption of conveyor travel.

A further object is the provision of a hide pulling machine of the character described including a novel hide clamp for gripping the hide during the pulling operation, and which, when the pulling operation is complete, automatically releases and drops the hide into a discharge chute.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, and efficiency, dependability, speed and convenience of operation.

With these objects in view as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a hide pulling machine embodying the present invention, with a hog, shown in broken lines, disposed in operative relationship thereto with the hide pulling operation partially completed,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the parts as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line III-Ill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line lV-IV of FIG. 3, with parts left in elevation and partially broken away,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line VV of FIG. 1, with the hide clamp at its release position, and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 applies to a conveyor rail from which is suspended a series of hogs 4 (one shown), each hog having been previously prepared for the pulling of the hide, and suspended by a pair of hooks 5 inserted through a hind leg at the gamb joint, and each carried by a shackle 8 having a roller 10 movable along rail 2. It will be understood that the shackles are moved along the conveyor in a continuous series at a constant rate of speed by any suitable means well known in the art, and that there are sets of shackles at regular intervals along the conveyor rail. In preparing each hog for the final pulling of its hide by the present machine, the skin of its legs is slitted and pulled free. Also, the belly is slit from tail to snout, and the hide pulled away from the slit, and from at least the lower parts of the head so that the hide, still in one piece, is attached only along the back and sides of the carcass, and possibly the upper portions of the neck and head.

The machine contemplated by the present invention includes a horizontal, rectangular carriage 12 having wheels 14 which move along a pair of rails 16 affixed to floor 18. Said rails extend parallel to conveyor rail 2, and may be of any desired length. Hogs 4 move along the conveyor rail in the direction of arrow 20, and carriage 12 is moved by the action of a hydraulic cylinder 22 extending longitudinally of the carriage therebeneath, said cylinder being affixed to the carriage at 24,

with its piston rod 26 extended and attached at 28 to a bracket 30 affixed to floor 18. The cylinder is doubleacting, so that it can move the carriage along rails 16 in alternately opposite directions. When moving in the direction of arrow 20, its speed should be synchronized with the speed of movement of the conveyor. Suitable automatic means, not shown, may be used to provide this synchronization.

Carriage 12 is provided with an upright superstructure 32 extending upwardly somewhat above the level of conveyor rail 2. As shown, this superstructure comprises a mast of generally rectangular cross-sectional contour including a pair of A-sh'aped side walls 34 having uprights 36 and ladder-like cross bars 38, said side walls being connected by top cross bars 40, and by a single cross bar 42 extending horizontally between each corresponding pair of cross bars 38 of the two side walls intermediate the ends of the latter. All of cross bars 42 are disposed in a single vertical plane parallel to the direction of conveyor travel. For convenience, the left side of superstructure 32, as viewed in FIG. 2, will be referred to as its front. It will be seen that the superstructure is spaced laterally apart from the conveyor rail, and faces the backs of the carcasses suspended from the conveyor in close proximity thereto.

A pair of endless sprocket chains 44 are arranged in vertical loops respectively adjacent the confronting faces of superstructure side walls 32. Said chain loops extend nearly the full height of the superstructure, and enclose cross bars 42 therein. At their lower ends, the chain loops are trained respectively about a pair of sprocket wheels 46 fixed on a horizontal shaft 48 journalled in bearings 50 mounted on the superstructure. Similarly, the upper ends of the chain loops are trained respectively about a pair of sprockets 52 fixed on a shaft 54 joumalled in bearings 56 mounted on the superstructure. Shafts 48 and 54 are horizontal and parallel, and lie in the vertical plane of cross bars 42. Lower shaft 48 is coupled at 58 to the output shaft of a drive unit consisting of a hydraulic or electric motor 60 and a speed reducer 62, said drive unit is mounted on carriage 12 by a bracket 64. Chains 44 may thus be driven at any desired speed.

Chains 44 carry a hide clamp designated generally by the numeral 66 extending horizontally and transversely therebetween. Said hide clamp includes a pair of end plates 68 parallel to the planes of the chain loops, and each permanently affixed, as by a spacer 70, to a single link of one of the chains. Said end plates are disposed at the confronting edges of the chains, and are of suffrciently restricted dimensions that they will clear both cross bars 42 and shafts 48 and 54 as the chain is driven. The front reaches of the chains move downwardly, while the rear reaches travel upwardly. Extending horizontally between end plates 68, and rigidly affixed thereto, is a heavy bar 72 to which are affixed a pair of planar, radially extending ribs 74 which are angularly spaced apart and extend the full length of bar 72. Said bar and ribs constitute the fixed jaw of the hide clamp. A shaft 76 is disposed parallel to bar 72, and is spaced above and rearwardly from said bar when the clamp is positioned on the forward reaches of the chains as in FIG. 3. Said shaft is rotatably journalled at its ends in end plates 68, as at 78 (see FIG. 4), and has a radially extending arm 80 affixed thereto immediately adjacent each end plate. The free ends of said arms are rigidly interconnected by a heavy bar 82 to which are affixed a pair of planar, radially extending, angularly spaced apart ribs 84 which, as clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, are notched out to present relatively staggered teeth. Bar 82 and its ribs 84 constitute the movable jaw of the clamp.

When the clamp is disposed on the forward reaches of the chains, as in FIG. 3, arms 80 hang vertically downwardly by gravity, and the ribs 84 carried thereby interdigitate with ribs 74, as shown. Shaft 76 is provided with a laterally extending handle 86 by means of which it may be turned to open the clamp jaws. Carried by one of superstructure side walls 34, adjacent the top rear portion thereof, is a trip member 88 which cooper ates with another radially extending arm 90 affixed to shaft 76 to open the clamp, as will be more fully described hereinbelow.

At the rear of superstructure 32 adjacent the lower end thereof, there is disposed a hide discharge chute 92. Said chute has the form of an upwardly opening trough, and is pivoted on a horizontal transverse axis, as at 94, between a pair of brackets 96 affixed to the superstructure. Said chute is inclined upwardly and forwardly into the interior of the superstructure, and rests freely adjacent its upper end on one of cross bars 42 of the superstructure. Also, the superstructure is provided at one side thereof with a platform 98 on which a human operator may stand, so that he is moved with carriage 12, and is provided with easy access to the upper portions of the chain loops.

In the general operation of the machine, it is moved by the action of hydraulic cylinder 22 alternately in the direction of arrow 20, during which time its motion is synchronized with the conveyor speed to maintain the relationship shown in FIG. 1 between superstructure 32 and a single hog 4 on the line, and during which time the hide of that hog is pulled as will be more fully described below, and then in a direction opposite to arrow to move the machine into operative relationship to the next following hog on the line. While the speed of the carriage along tracks 16, and hence the necessary length of tracks 16, is of course determined not only by the time required by the machine to pull a single hide, but also by the conveyor speed and the spacing of the hogs thereon, the machine has functioned to pull the hides of at least hogs per'hour with a carriage travel no greater than six feet.

As the movement of carriage 12 becomes synchronized with the travel of a hog 4 in the direction of arrow 20, hide clamp 66 passes over top sprockets 52 and begins its downward movement with the forward reaches of claims 44. At this time, the operator standing on platform 98 opens the clamp by manually turning handle 86, and introduces the skin of the rear legs, previously pulled free of the legs in the preparation procedure already described, between the jaws of said clamp, and then releases the handle. The movable jaw then moves toward the fixed jaw by gravity, gripping the animal skin between the interdigitating ribs 74 and 84 of said jaws. Thus, as the clamp is moved downwardly by chains 44, the entire hide is pulled free of the back and sides of the carcass. The more the resistance to pulling of the hide, the tighter the clamp will be pulled closed. The toothed formation of ribs 84 also assists in providing an extremely secure gripping action. The weight of carriage l2 and its superstructure 32 must of course be sufficiently great to prevent it from being lifted from tracks 16 by the hide pulling force.

When hide clamp 66 passes under bottom sprockets 46 and starts its upward movement with the rearward reaches of the chains, the hide will not yet have pulled free of the carcass, and the pulling action continues during said upward movement of the clamp. Nevertheless, the pulling action will still be downward relative to the carcass, with the shaft 48 of the bottom sprockets acting as a pulley under which the hide is trained. As the clamp begins its upward movement, it engages and pivots discharge chute 92 upwardly and rearwardly, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2, to permit the passage both of the clamp, and of the following hide.

When the hide has passed completely above chute 92, said chute falls again to its normal position resting on cross bar 42. At this time, clamp 66 is approaching trip member 88, so that arm 90 is engaged and pivoted by said trip member as shown in FIG. 5, thereby opening the clamp jaws and dropping the hide into chute 92, for disposal, and the carriage is reversed for movement into operative relationship with the next following hog during the time required for the hide clamp to pass over the top sprockets to the forward reaches of the chains, and the process is repeated.

Thus it will be apparent that a hide pulling machine having several novel advantages has been provided. It operates directly on hogs moving along a conveyor line, without requiring even momentary stoppage or cessation of movement of the conveyor. It can effectively be used with conveyor lines of any normal speed and animal spacing. It requires only a single connection of the hog to the apparatus, that of the hide in clamp 66. The hide is pulled downwardly, so that the reactive force of the pulling action is supported entirely by the conveyor rail, and no other stabilization of the carcasses is required. In machines pulling the hides upwardly, as in previous machines, the head of each carcass must be held down to resist the pulling force, usually by a hook mounted on the carriage and engaged in the lower jaw. Such hold-down apparatus represents additional cost, and also requires rather precise synchronization of carriage and conveyor speeds. The present structure aleviates any necessity for hold-down apparatus, and also provides that some lack of synchronization of carriage and conveyor speeds will have no adverse effects.

While we have shown and described a specific embodiment of our invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A hide pulling machine adapted to pull the hide from a hog suspended in a vertical position on a moving conveyor line, comprising;

a. a carriage resting on the floor below said suspended hog and including a superstructure extending vertically adjacent said suspended hog,

b. carriage moving means operable to move said carriage along the floor in a direction parallel to the movement of said conveyor line,

c. pulling means carried by said carriage and including a hide clamp engageable with the hide of said hog adjacent the upper end of its carcass, and operable when driven to pull said hide downwardly from the carcass, whereby the pulling force on said hide is resisted solely by the means suspending said hog, said pulling means comprising a pair of chains arraged in vertically extending loops spaced apart in the direction of conveyor travel, upper and lower sprockets carriedv rotatably by said superstructure and about which the upper and lower ends of said chain loops are respectively trained, and power means mounted on said carriage and operable to rotate said sprockets, said hide clamp extending horizontally between and being affixed to said chains, and comprising a pair of end plates each affixed to a single link of one of said chains, at the confronting sides thereof, a first bar extending horizontally between and affixed to said end plates, a plurality of radially extending angularly sapced apart ribs affixed to said bar, a second bar parallel to said first bar, extending between said end plates and movably mounted on said end plates for pivotal movement about an axis parallel and eccentric thereto, whereby it may be moved toward and from said first bar, and a plurality of radially extending, angularly spaced apart ribs affixed to said second bar, the ribs of said two bars being movable into interdigitating relation as said second bar approaches said first bar, whereby a hide introduced between said bars is clamped in sinuous restraint beween said ribs.

2. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein the reaches of said chains closer to the hog on said conveyor line move downwardly, and wherein said second clamp bar is pivoted to said end plates on an axis above said first clamp bar, whereby when said clamp is disposed on said closer chain reaches, said clamp is biased to a closed position by gravity.

3. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein closing movement of said clamp is limited by interengagement of the ribs of said first and second bars, the tension of hide pull exerting a force on the ribs of said second bar tending to pull said second bar closer to said first bar.

4. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein the ribs of at least one of said bars are toothed.

5. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 with the addition of a pulley member coaxial with said lower sprockets and aligned with said hide clamps, whereby when said clamp moves around said lower sprockets and moves upwardly with the further reaches of said claims, the hide will be trained about said pulley member and downward pulling of the hide from the hog will continue during upward movement of the clamp.

6. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 5 with the addition of a trip member carried fixedly by said carriage superstructure and operable to engage and open said clamp, whereby to release the hide therefrom, as said clamp approaches the upper end of the upwardly travelling farther reaches of said claims. 

1. A hide pulling machine adapted to pull the hide from a hog suspended in a vertical position on a moving conveyor line, comprising; a. a carriage resting on the floor below said suspended hog and including a superstructure extending vertically adjacent said suspended hog, b. carriage moving means operable to move said carriage along the floor in a direction parallel to the movement of said conveyor line, c. pulling means carried by said carriage and including a hide clamp engAgeable with the hide of said hog adjacent the upper end of its carcass, and operable when driven to pull said hide downwardly from the carcass, whereby the pulling force on said hide is resisted solely by the means suspending said hog, said pulling means comprising a pair of chains arraged in vertically extending loops spaced apart in the direction of conveyor travel, upper and lower sprockets carried rotatably by said superstructure and about which the upper and lower ends of said chain loops are respectively trained, and power means mounted on said carriage and operable to rotate said sprockets, said hide clamp extending horizontally between and being affixed to said chains, and comprising a pair of end plates each affixed to a single link of one of said chains, at the confronting sides thereof, a first bar extending horizontally between and affixed to said end plates, a plurality of radially extending angularly sapced apart ribs affixed to said bar, a second bar parallel to said first bar, extending between said end plates and movably mounted on said end plates for pivotal movement about an axis parallel and eccentric thereto, whereby it may be moved toward and from said first bar, and a plurality of radially extending, angularly spaced apart ribs affixed to said second bar, the ribs of said two bars being movable into interdigitating relation as said second bar approaches said first bar, whereby a hide introduced between said bars is clamped in sinuous restraint beween said ribs.
 2. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein the reaches of said chains closer to the hog on said conveyor line move downwardly, and wherein said second clamp bar is pivoted to said end plates on an axis above said first clamp bar, whereby when said clamp is disposed on said closer chain reaches, said clamp is biased to a closed position by gravity.
 3. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein closing movement of said clamp is limited by interengagement of the ribs of said first and second bars, the tension of hide pull exerting a force on the ribs of said second bar tending to pull said second bar closer to said first bar.
 4. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 wherein the ribs of at least one of said bars are toothed.
 5. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 1 with the addition of a pulley member coaxial with said lower sprockets and aligned with said hide clamps, whereby when said clamp moves around said lower sprockets and moves upwardly with the further reaches of said claims, the hide will be trained about said pulley member and downward pulling of the hide from the hog will continue during upward movement of the clamp.
 6. A hide pulling machine as recited in claim 5 with the addition of a trip member carried fixedly by said carriage superstructure and operable to engage and open said clamp, whereby to release the hide therefrom, as said clamp approaches the upper end of the upwardly travelling farther reaches of said claims. 